Chapter 10: The First Gift of Christmas
As the same song started playing over the P.A., Max tried his hardest to spot Santa, but all the elves started stacking onto each other, blocking his sight. "He's here! He's here!" Artha cheered. "Where?" Max asked. "I see him! He's over there!" Jeanne cheered. "I can't see him!" Max exclaimed. As the elves continued blocking Max's sight, Conductor Norwood tipped his hat to Santa with respect. "I can't see him! I can't see him!" Max cried, thinking that it was all hopeless now. But then, his attention turned to the reindeer, and he saw something as time seemingly started to slow down. One of the bells came loose and was thrown right towards him. As the song ended, the bell rolled right towards his feet. He picked it up, stared at it and tried to ring it in his ear. But there was no ringing. "Doubter, doubter." A silent voice whispered in his ear. "Okay. Okay." Max sobbed, admitting that Lyman was right. He did start doubting in the magic of Christmas long ago. But now, he was ready to believe again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I believe. I believe. I believe." He whispered. And then, as he shook the bell again…it let off the most beautiful ring he had ever heard.
As he looked at the bell in shock, he noticed a certain reflection appear on the bell. He looked behind him and saw him…Santa Clause. "What was that you said, Maxwell McGrath?" Santa asked. Max started staggering. "I…I believe." He looked at everyone staring at him. "I believe." Santa continued to stare at him. "I believe…that this is yours." Max said, holding out the bell. Santa took the bell without question. "Well…thank you, Max." He said. "Me, me! Pick me, Santa!" Morris said, excitedly. "What're you doing? Stop it." Artha whispered. "Pick me, pick me! I want the First Gift! I want the First Gift!" Morris continued calling as Santa walked over to him despite Artha's attempts to shush him. "Young Morris…patience. And a smidge of humility might serve you well." Santa said. "Yes, sir." Morris said, dejectedly backing up. Conductor Norwood patted his shoulder in comfort as Santa then walked up to the Penn siblings. "And you, Artha Tannis Penn, you and your siblings…young men and ladies of decision. Full of confidence and spirit. Christmas spirit." He said, making the Penns smile. "Keep up the good work." He said. "Thank you, sir." Artha said as Santa then walked up to Jeanne. "And Jeanne. Uh, it is Jeanne, right?" Santa asked. Jeanne nodded. "I see you made some new friends." Santa said. "Yes, sir. I sure have." Jeanne said. "That's a lucky lass. There's no greater gift than friendship." Santa said. "Or family. Right, Santa?" Xena asked, making Santa look at her. "That's exactly right, Miss Xena Ferrus. The 2 greatest gifts in Christmas are friendship and family." Santa said. The Ferrus Quintuplets smiled at that. "And speaking of gifts…" Santa started to say, looking around before pointing…at Max! "…let's have young Max right here." As the elves cheered, Max became shocked that Santa picked him. Conductor Norwood, the Ferrus Quintuplets, the Penn siblings and Jeanne looked at him with smiles while Morris was shocked himself.
Santa walked up to his sleigh, putting the bell in his back pocket as the elves carried Max towards the center. As they set him down, Max looked at Santa as he adjusted the reins on his reindeer. Santa motioned him to come over. Max walked up to the sleigh, stepped in and stood near Santa's knee. "Now, Max, what would you like for Christmas?" Santa asked. "Me." Max said. "You." Santa nodded. Max put this decision to some hard thought. When he finally decided, he whispered it into Santa's ear. "Yes, indeed. Hmm. Yes, indeed." Santa said with a smile. As he stood up, he held up the sleigh bell. "THE FIRST GIFT OF CHRISTMAS!" He announced. Everyone cheered happily. "This bell is a wonderful symbol of the spirit of Christmas. As am I. Just remember, the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart." Santa said, placing the bell in Max's hand. Just then, the clock tower started ringing. Everyone looked and saw that it had finally reached midnight. "Merry Christmas, Max." Santa said. Max turned around as Conductor Norwood walked up. "Better keep that in a safe place." Conductor Norwood said. Max placed the bell in his right pocket as the reindeer started jingling their bells. Max smiled as he could finally hear them as Conductor Norwood helped him down before looking at his pocket watch. It was saying to him 'Still. Could. Be. Late.' Knowing what that meant, he gestured to Santa, who immediately understood. Max and Conductor Norwood made it back to the others. "Hey, hey. Man alive, are you lucky, McGrath." Morris said as they looked on. The elves fixed up the reins, Santa summoned his magical whip and cracked it, signaling them to take off. The reindeer took off into the air and started pulling as hard as they could. "Pull, Comet! Pull, boy! Prancer, that's a girl! Good boy, Donner!" Santa called, encouraging his beloved reindeer as they started taking off. Everyone watched as they started flying around the center. They were amazed as Santa waved to his elves, chuckling. Conductor Norwood looked at Max and Artha with smiles. "Now Dasher. Now Prancer and Vixen." Santa said as they flew over the group's heads. "It's everything I dreamed it would be." Erika said as Morris nodded in agreement. "It sure is, sis. It sure is." Artha said. "Could all…Could all this be nothing but a dream?" Jeanne asked. "No." Max said, now realizing all this was too good to be a dream. Santa gave one last crack of his whip, lighting up the tree brighter than before. "To the top of the roof, to the top of the wall! Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!" Santa called as he, his reindeer and his sleigh disappeared in a flash of sparks. The sleigh bells' jingles were heard as the sparks fell and disappeared. Everyone looked on in silence…until the elves broke it by cheering as they threw their caps into the air. "All aboard!" Conductor Norwood called as the Polar Express started up again.
The elves started playing 'Rockin' on top of the World' as they also started dancing too.